Canada Geography 101

Canada is big! As the second-largest country in the world, spanning six time zones; and stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans, it covers almost 10 million square kilometers (9, 984,670 to be exact).

The country is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories. The difference between provinces and territories is that provinces have jurisdictions and get power or authority directly from the Constitution Act of 1867. The territories receive power or authority directly from the federal government.

The ten provinces in alphabetical order are: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Novia Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan. The three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon.

The population is around 33 million.

77 percent of Canadians live in cities and towns within 200 km (125 miles) of the U.S. border.

Some major cities are: Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Canada stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic and into the Arctic.

Canada has the world's longest coastline.

Forests cover almost half of Canada - it has one tenth of the world's forests.

Ships sail inland on the St. Lawrence River (from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes). There are about 2 million lakes in Canada!

Nearly one-fourth of all the fresh water in the world is in Canada.

Canada has 42 National Parks. The largest Park is Wood Buffalo National Park, in Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It is home to the world's largest bison herd and the only nesting site of the endangered whooping crane.